Not sure how many original S-Type owners we have on here. This question may even pertain to subsequent owners as well...

If you had to choose again, would you still take the Navigation option on our cars?

I doubt if I would. When I was looking at purchasing my Jag last year, I was coming from my previous car, a 2002 Infiniti that had no navigation. I thought it would be a nice addition since I had never had it before in a car. I was also a bit behind the times with cell phone technology as well, having just gotten my first "smart" phone.

Technology as we all know moves at the speed of light and what was state-of-the-art in 2008 is now ods school uncool. LOL. The limitations and quirkiness of the Jag navi system make it so unpleasant to use compared to my Android phone, that I seldom use it.

The problem is that the audio and climate control system are integrated so it makes upgrading the audio system near impossible. I decided that I am going to install a 7" Android tablet over the existing navi display to handle my navigation and entertainment functions. I will have to make sure I can still access the original screen for climte control, etc.

Stay tuned for further developments!

 

Interesting thread.. I have subscribed... just because it is interesting.

When I got my car I looked at doing an upgrade to the factory Nav. I was turned off by the full integration nature of the system (yea, the climate control thing).

The problem with the factory nav systems, in my opinion, is the cost to keep them current. Updates can run more than the cost of a decent stand alone nav devise. The smart phone thing was a turn off at first because of the small phone screen and data use. My current phone has a bigger screen than my TomTom and, Nokia at least, has a nav system that doesn't use data like a hog when you use it.

That said, I have a "source" for updates for my 300's nav system that only costs me $25.00. So, I found and installed a factory nav head unit in my 300. But it is just that, a head unit that doesn't effect other functions.

 

I'm not an original owner and realise the inbuilt nav isn't like some current ones but really don't care. It's good enough nearly always. Not worth doing anything about it as far as I'm concerned.

I found minor hassles when I used to use multimap (now bing maps) and more recently with google maps (even has some postal codes wrong so that they're 200 miles away!). I won't repeat what my mate said about Apple's maps...

 

Yes, I forgot to mention the cost of a new SAT NAV disc from the dealer was crazy! I also like being able to speak the desired destination rather than the factory version typing, plus you can enter it while on the go.

 

The factory NAVI unit has a has good points and bad in my opinion, such as;

The non-NAVI cars' console looks very dated with the monochromatic display on the HVAC panel, and the in-car-phone look of the radio deck as well,

The NAVI cars' unit on the other hand, gives the center console, and interior in general, a look signficiantly more modern, upscale and clean,

Despite it's its year of introduction, the NAVI unit's are also touch screen, so they in fact have aged well, I have not used them personally, so I cannot comment on the performance of the actual NAVI unit, i.e. is it slow to use?, intuitive? etc

For all of these reasons, the NAVI-equipped cars I feel are a lot more desirable and give a much better first impression to passengers and potential buyers, so both resale value and chances of selling it are improved,

There's also the minor consideration that the non-NAVI equipped cars, which have the Climate Control Module in the center console inside the HVAC control unit, seem to be the only ones prone to CCM damage. The HVAC issues that end up getting diagnosed as a burnt out CCM, do not ever seem to effect the NAVI-equipped cars, which have a more robust CCM, mounted in the glove compartment if I'm not mistaken,

Despite all this, my STR has the base non-NAVI center console, and I to be honest, prefer it!

Sure its not pretty and old-looking, but it is VERY functional, the 1,000 button interface is actually very easy to use, the buttons are all big and easy to reach and push, even if you have gloves on, I have never liked touch screen interfaces, regardless if its my cell phone or in-car-interface, I like quick and easy to use without even having to look at the unit directly in order to use it style functionality,

I'm not really an audiophile or embarassed enough about the 90's looking center console to merit an upgrade to a sleeker looking modern aftermarket double-din touch screen unit of some type,

Also, I really like the steering wheel mounted audio controls, and I'm concerned an aftermarket deck upgrade would lose that functionality... Or can someone chime and inform me otherwise; that more aftermarket installs are able to keep steering wheel audio controls functional?

 

Initially, I was full of enthusiasm for the NAV system. Even bought an update DVD from eBay.

1. Then I read the manual. Too complex for my liking.
2. Then I found that the street where my daughter and son-in-law live in Calgary did not exist in the NAV, but was there on my Garmin.
3. Then I realized that I had to take my eyes off the road and look at the map to double-check the verbal instructions - OK in the country, but in the city, when you need to differentiate between "Bear left", "Stay left", "Keep left" and "Turn left", it's nice to have a clear road map right in front of your eyes.
4. Then, one dark and rainy night in the middle of nowhere I heard the instruction "in four-tenths of a mile, take the turn on the left".

About that time, I decided to use the Garmin instead. Cost $88, free lifetime maps, bluetooth hands-free voice-activated cell-phone control, mounting bracket $8 from ebay, sticky pad attachment easily removable, cell-phone attached to GPS with velcro, wiring hidden all the way to USB-power in the cigarette lighter, 5 minutes to install. For the time being, perfect!!

Hope the pics will give you an idea.

 

Ok, here we go. To make the tablet removable, I decided that a set of neodymium magnets should do the trick. They are very strong for their size. 1/4" diameter x 1/8" thick is the size I found at a local craft store. I figured 4 for the bottom attachment to the hinge and 2 for the "latch" at the top. I used JB Weld 2 part epoxy.



The small section of piano hinge was attached to the bezel of the SAT NAV screen with #M double sided tape. I ended up drilling 4 holes in the outer flange to give the magnets a place to "seat".







I don't mind the small magnets on the tablet as it's only life will be as part of the car display. The wire for charging plugs into the cigar lighter and will be stored in the sah tray when not needed. I plan to run an audio input from the tablet to the factory system through a switched input from the CD changer line. The switch will be in the center console next to my subwoofer volume control.



I think it looks good. (found a Jag logo to use as wallpaper) I plan on using my phone as a mobile hotspot for wifi when needed. The tablet has wifi and gps as well as bluetooth.



Total cost - about $150.00 Totally reversable to stock appearance with minimum effort.

 

My car did not have the sat nav as standard but I wouldn't want one anyway as my car is an 04 and in nearly 10 years things have so moved on the original system is really quite poor. I bought a really good Alpine INA-W910R that has a very high screen resolution Bluetooth and all the latest software bells and whistles. They were £1600 not long ago and are now readily available at just £600 brand new. I bought the S-Type adapter plate which was easy enough to fit, the only problem I found is this unit won't fit with the adapter leads I bought to utilise the controls on the steering wheel but it comes with a remote. The unit is great with fantastic graphics and best of all you just earth the green handbrake lead so you can set the sat nav on the go (er passenger not driver) and play DVD's. Yes you lose the clock in the speedo but there is one in the head unit, plus I think it looks factory fitted and it is 10x better than the original Jaguar one as far as usage is concerned....highly recommended but I do agree the factory sat nav screen does make the centre console look a lot better than standard.

 

hey everyone, i know this is a really old thread, but wondering if anyone knew any possibilities about my current situation to get an aftermarket double din in place, i have factory nav with the alpine system on my 03 str.
Is it possible to just swap the factory nav to non-nav climate control and aftermarket double din bracket?

Why does everyone say that everything needs a lot of rewiring, whats wrong with potential adapters?

I have many more questions but im struggling to understand how expensive and difficult people claim it to be, i do have experience with this stuff.